By Peterside Rejoice
For the second time in one week, protesters on Monday stormed the National Assembly complex, demanding that lawmakers make real-time electronic transmission of election results compulsory in the ongoing amendment to the Electoral Act.
The demonstrators, drawn from a coalition of civil society organisations including Situation Room Nigeria and ActionAid Nigeria, said Nigeria’s democracy would remain vulnerable to manipulation if manual collation of results is retained in any form.
Chanting solidarity songs and holding placards bearing inscriptions such as “Protect Our Votes,” “No Real-Time, No Democracy,” and “Electronic Transmission Is Non-Negotiable,” the protesters gathered at the main gate of the National Assembly under heavy security presence. Security operatives had earlier barricaded all major entrances into the complex, preventing the demonstrators from accessing the premises, forcing them to stage the protest outside the gates.
Leaders of the coalition insisted that the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2026, must clearly mandate real-time electronic transmission of results directly from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s viewing portal without any fallback to manual collation. According to them, the continued provision for manual collation creates opportunities for alteration of results at collation centres and undermines public confidence in the electoral process.
A spokesperson for the group argued that funds appropriated for elections already account for the technological infrastructure required to support real-time transmission nationwide. The group maintained that there is no justification for retaining manual backups, warning that once manual collation is allowed, it could be exploited to override electronically transmitted results.
The protest followed a five-day suspension of earlier demonstrations after assurances were reportedly given during a Senate plenary that the contentious clause would be reconsidered.
The renewed agitation is linked to debates in the Senate over Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. Last Tuesday, senators reconvened for an emergency plenary to revisit earlier decisions on the clause. During deliberations, Senate Chief Whip Tahir Monguno proposed removing the phrase “real-time” and replacing the word “transmission” with “transfer.”
The proposal sparked heated exchanges on the floor, with Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe raising multiple points of order and cautioning that altering the wording could significantly weaken the reform.
At the end of the debate, lawmakers approved electronic transmission of results to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal but retained manual collation as a backup mechanism in the event of technical failures.
Civil society groups, however, described the decision as inadequate to guarantee full transparency and vowed to sustain pressure on lawmakers until real-time electronic transmission is fully and clearly guaranteed in the amended law.
The Senate is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, February 17, at 11 a.m., to deliberate on other national matters, but stakeholders say the controversy surrounding electronic transmission of results is far from over as Nigerians continue to demand stronger safeguards for the country’s electoral process.
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